WheeloRatings

We averaged 40.8 points from turnover last season, and we conceded an average of 48.7 points.

Here is my Stats Files post: Melbourne v Greater Western Sydney (Round 1, 2025) https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_match_stats.html?ID=20250108 Key Team Stats Stats highlighted purple were won by Melbourne. Stat For Against Diff Disposal Efficiency Disposal Efficiency 69.7 70.0 -0.2 Kicking Efficiency 59.9 59.6 +0.3 Territory/Attack Inside 50s 56 52 +4 Shots At Goal 29 24 +5 Shots Per Inside 50 51.8 46.2 +5.6 Marks Inside 50 5 7 -2 Contest Contested Possessions 149 133 +16 Ground Ball Gets 96 97 -1 Post Clearance Contested Possessions 59 55 +4 Post Clearance Ground Ball Gets 37 45 -8 Centre Clearances 12 12 +0 Stoppage Clearances 24 36 -12 Contested Marks 7 5 +2 Defense Intercepts 77 72 +5 Intercept Marks 17 10 +7 Tackles 60 71 -11 Tackles Inside 50 9 8 +1 Def One On One Loss % 22.2 16.7 +5.6 Ruck Hitouts 51 26 +25 Hitouts To Advantage 16 7 +9 Player Ratings Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Match Max Gawn 4.7 6.2 6.9 1.4 19.2 Christian Petracca 3.3 9.8 2.1 1.5 16.8 Tom McDonald 5.6 2.4 3.7 4.7 16.4 Tom Sparrow 0.3 1.9 9.0 3.1 14.3 Jake Lever 3.6 2.5 5.6 1.5 13.1 Harrison Petty 3.1 6.1 2.0 1.7 12.9 Kade Chandler 0.5 6.7 2.5 2.5 12.2 Jake Bowey 2.3 2.7 4.3 2.5 11.8 Xavier Lindsay 1.9 3.4 1.5 4.2 11.0 Caleb Windsor 0.9 1.9 5.6 1.8 10.2 Jack Henderson 3.9 3.1 1.6 1.4 10.1 Ed Langdon 5.5 0.3 1.5 2.4 9.7 Christian Salem 4.9 −0.1 2.4 2.2 9.4 Clayton Oliver 2.2 0.8 4.4 1.4 8.9 Aidan Johnson 1.0 −0.5 8.6 −0.5 8.6 Jacob van Rooyen 0.8 1.1 3.4 2.8 8.1 Matthew Jefferson 2.6 0.0 0.4 3.3 6.4 Jack Viney 5.5 3.1 0.5 −2.8 6.2 Trent Rivers 2.5 1.1 0.8 1.1 5.5 Bayley Fritsch 0.8 −1.8 3.5 1.9 4.4 Harry Sharp 0.7 2.5 −0.4 1.6 4.4 Blake Howes 2.6 −1.1 2.1 0.0 3.6 Harvey Langford 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.2 3.2 Contested Possessions For Against Diff Melbourne's Defensive 50 Hard Ball Get 6 4 +2 Loose Ball Get 11 16 -5 Contested Mark 1 2 -1 Ruck Hard Ball Get 0 1 -1 Gather From Hitout 3 2 +1 Contested Knock On 4 0 +4 Free For 3 1 +2 Total 28 26 +2 Melbourne's Forward 50 Hard Ball Get 4 4 0 Loose Ball Get 18 19 -1 Contested Mark 2 0 +2 Contested Knock On 1 4 -3 Free For 2 1 +1 Total 27 28 -1 Post clearance Hard Ball Get 8 5 +3 Loose Ball Get 29 40 -11 Contested Mark 3 2 +1 Contested Knock On 4 3 +1 Free For 15 5 +10 Total 59 55 +4 Pre clearance Hard Ball Get 14 10 +4 Loose Ball Get 45 42 +3 Contested Mark 4 3 +1 Ruck Hard Ball Get 3 1 +2 Gather From Hitout 12 7 +5 Contested Knock On 7 5 +2 Free For 5 10 -5 Total 90 78 +12 Official data on pre- and post-clearance contested possessions are not available. These have been estimated by Wheelo Ratings and should be indicative. Ground ball gets are inclusive of hard ball gets and loose ball gets. 'Free For' does not include free kicks to advantage or free kicks while in possession of the ball as these are not counted as contested possessions. Expected scores xScore Score xWin % xMargin Margin Swing Melbourne 81.8 74 67% +7.9 Greater Western Sydney 73.9 77 33% +3 +10.9 Shots Score Accuracy xScore +/- xSc. / Shot Shot Rating Overall Melbourne 29 11.6 72 37.9% 81.8 −9.8 2.82 −0.34 Greater Western Sydney 24 11.8 74 45.8% 72.9 +1.1 3.04 +0.04 General Play Melbourne 18 10.2 62 55.6% 54.1 +7.9 3.00 +0.44 Greater Western Sydney 15 6.5 41 40.0% 40.4 +0.6 2.70 +0.04 Set Position Melbourne 11 1.4 10 9.1% 27.8 −17.8 2.52 −1.61 Greater Western Sydney 9 5.3 33 55.6% 32.5 +0.5 3.61 +0.06 xWin %: win probability based on expected scores. Swing: difference between expected margin and actual margin. xScore: total expected score from all shots taken. +/-: total score above or below expected score. xSc. / Shot: average expected score per shot. This represents the average shot difficulty. Shot Rating: average score above or below expected score per shot at goal. Notes: Expected scores are calculated by Wheelo Ratings. Each shot at goal is assigned an expected score based on the distance from goal, shot angle, and type of shot (e.g. set shot, general play following contested possession, general play following uncontested possession, ground kick, etc) as a proxy for pressure. The model does not take into account factors like the player, whether the ball was kicked with their preferred or non-preferred foot, and pressure on the player when taking the shot. Rushed behinds are excluded from actual and expected scores. Territory (time in zones) Region Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Match Season Half Forward 53% 48% 61% 42% 51% 51% Defensive 47% 52% 39% 58% 49% 49% Region Forward 50 22% 18% 32% 22% 23% 23% Attacking Midfield 31% 30% 30% 21% 28% 28% Defensive Midfield 25% 24% 19% 28% 24% 24% Defensive 50 22% 28% 19% 30% 25% 25% Source: Calculated by Wheelo Ratings. Score Sources Summary Score Source Score Against Diff Kick-in 0.0 0 1.0 6 -6 Centre Bounce 4.2 26 1.1 7 +19 Stoppage (Other) 3.1 19 3.2 20 -1 Turnover 4.5 29 6.8 44 -15 Score Source For Against Match Season Match Season * Kick-in 0 0.0 6 6.0 Centre Bounce 26 26.0 7 7.0 Stoppage (Other) 19 19.0 20 20.0 Turnover 29 29.0 44 44.0 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Greater Western Sydney. Chain start region Note: region is from the scoring team's perspective. Score Source Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Centre Bounce Centre 26 26.0 7 7.0 Kick-in D50 0 0.0 6 6.0 Stoppage (Other) Wing 18 18.0 13 13.0 Stoppage (Other) F50 1 1.0 7 7.0 Turnover D50 1 1.0 7 7.0 Turnover Centre 0 0.0 7 7.0 Turnover Wing 21 21.0 22 22.0 Turnover F50 7 7.0 8 8.0 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * D50 1 1.0 13 13.0 Centre 26 26.0 14 14.0 Wing 39 39.0 35 35.0 F50 8 8.0 15 15.0 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Defensive 50 1 1.0 13 13.0 Defensive midfield 6 6.0 13 13.0 Centre bounce 26 26.0 7 7.0 Attacking midfield 33 33.0 29 29.0 Forward 50 8 8.0 15 15.0 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Greater Western Sydney. Points from defensive half For Against Match Season Match Season * 7 7.0 26 26.0 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Greater Western Sydney. Centre Bounce Attendances CBAs CBA % 2025 % 2024 % Max Gawn 24 92% 92.3% 85.0% Christian Petracca 21 81% 80.8% 55.8% Clayton Oliver 19 73% 73.1% 70.7% Jack Viney 18 69% 69.2% 69.1% Tom Sparrow 9 35% 34.6% 37.7% Trent Rivers 8 31% 30.8% 29.9% Aidan Johnson 2 8% 7.7% Harvey Langford 2 8% 7.7% Ed Langdon 1 4% 3.8% 0.7% Christian Salem 0 0% 0.0% 12.3% Harrison Petty 0 0% 0.0% 7.5% Jacob van Rooyen 0 0% 0.0% 17.8% Ruck Contests and Hitouts Ruck Contests Ruck Contests RC % 2025 % 2024 % Max Gawn 77 75% 75.5% 81.1% Aidan Johnson 25 25% 24.5% Harrison Petty 0 0% 0.0% 7.9% Jacob van Rooyen 0 0% 0.0% 17.6% Hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. To Adv. % (2025) To Adv. % (2024) Max Gawn 77 46 15 32.6% 27.9% Aidan Johnson 25 5 1 20.0% Harrison Petty 0 0 0 24.4% Jacob van Rooyen 0 0 0 24.7% Opposition hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. Lachlan Keeffe 75 14 4 Callum M. Brown 27 12 3

You are correct re shot difficulty. Melbourne's shot rating last season was 7th best, but average expected score per shot (i.e. difficulty) was 16th. Based on expected score, Melbourne's "expected wins" was 10.0 so we outperformed expectation (in relation to expected scores). Forgive the wide table, but here is a dump of all the key xscore data for Melbourne last season. We won three games where we lost on xscore (Rounds 3, 15, 18), and we only lost one game where we won on xscore (Round 9). Rnd Opposition For Against xWins Result Margin xMargin Score xScore +/- Score xScore +/- 0 Sydney 64 65.5 −1.5 86 82.3 3.7 16.8% Loss -22 −16.8 1 Western Bulldogs 109 85.5 23.5 64 68.8 −4.8 82.5% Win 45 16.7 2 Hawthorn 93 78.0 15.0 38 47.0 −9.0 97.8% Win 55 31.0 3 Port Adelaide 96 60.7 35.3 89 91.7 −2.7 3.5% Win 7 −31.0 4 Adelaide 78 84.7 −6.7 63 78.7 −15.7 63.3% Win 15 6.0 5 Brisbane 60 60.5 −0.5 82 83.2 −1.2 7.0% Loss -22 −22.7 7 Richmond 85 75.5 9.5 42 57.1 −15.1 88.0% Win 43 18.4 8 Geelong 74 83.7 −9.7 66 61.3 4.7 89.5% Win 8 22.4 9 Carlton 76 77.7 −1.7 77 53.8 23.2 94.4% Loss -1 23.9 10 West Coast 70 64.7 5.3 105 104.8 0.2 1.1% Loss -35 −40.1 11 St Kilda 100 100.2 −0.2 62 80.6 −18.6 88.2% Win 38 19.6 12 Fremantle 49 56.8 −7.8 141 117.5 23.5 0.0% Loss -92 −60.7 13 Collingwood 51 66.1 −15.1 89 70.5 18.5 39.7% Loss -38 −4.5 15 North Melbourne 70 55.3 14.7 67 62.0 5.0 31.0% Win 3 −6.7 16 Brisbane 81 80.6 0.4 86 88.9 −2.9 32.3% Loss -5 −8.3 17 West Coast 112 102.7 9.3 58 65.2 −7.2 99.1% Win 54 37.5 18 Essendon 84 69.2 14.8 67 75.5 −8.5 34.2% Win 17 −6.3 19 Fremantle 66 59.7 6.3 116 123.7 −7.7 0.0% Loss -50 −64.0 20 Greater Western Sydney 83 68.1 14.9 85 80.5 4.5 21.1% Loss -2 −12.4 21 Western Bulldogs 59 59.5 −0.5 110 132.6 −22.6 0.0% Loss -51 −73.0 22 Port Adelaide 51 62.8 −11.8 53 79.3 −26.3 15.7% Loss -2 −16.5 23 Gold Coast 117 103.4 13.6 63 61.0 2.0 99.5% Win 54 42.3 24 Collingwood 57 60.1 −3.1 103 114.8 −11.8 0.1% Loss -46 −54.7

Pleasure! No, unfortunately I only have these stats since the start of 2021.

@Redleg_Knowledge We certainly take a higher proportion of shots from the pockets than the corridor. Over the last four seasons, of all Melbourne's shots, 18.8% were set shots from the corridor inside 50 metres from goal. The next lowest % was West Coast with 20.8%. In 2024, Melbourne was 19.4%, only above Collingwood at 18.8%. The table below shows the breakdown of all Melbourne's shots (and the rest of the AFL) by distance, shot category, and pocket/corridor. A much higher proportion of Melbourne's shots are from set position, 30-50m, from the pocket (particularly the left pocket), and general play from 15-50m from the pocket. I have bolded where the difference between Melbourne's % and the rest of the AFL is greatest. General Play Set Position Left Corridor Right Left Corridor Right 0 to <15 m Melbourne 0.8% 4.2% 0.8% 0.4% 2.1% 0.3% Rest of AFL 0.6% 5.1% 0.6% 0.3% 2.1% 0.4% 15 to <30 m Melbourne 4.0% 8.8% 3.9% 2.0% 3.7% 1.7% Rest of AFL 2.9% 9.1% 3.4% 1.9% 5.4% 2.2% 30 to <40 m Melbourne 3.3% 7.2% 2.4% 4.3% 5.0% 4.6% Rest of AFL 2.4% 7.2% 2.7% 3.5% 6.3% 3.9% 40 to <50 m Melbourne 2.4% 3.9% 1.8% 7.8% 8.0% 5.9% Rest of AFL 1.6% 4.5% 1.8% 5.5% 9.0% 5.9% 50+ m Melbourne 0.8% 1.9% 0.6% 2.5% 3.0% 2.0% Rest of AFL 0.7% 2.4% 0.7% 2.0% 3.7% 2.2% All Melbourne 11.3% 25.9% 9.5% 17.0% 21.7% 14.5% Rest of AFL 8.3% 28.2% 9.3% 13.2% 26.4% 14.5% You can explore location of shots (for players and teams) at the following page of my site: https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_xscores.html

For those who have an interest in the Brownlow, you can track my predictions live during the count this year. https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_brownlow_live.html

I referenced contested marks, and my point was that most of the top possession winners have barely taken a contested mark this season.

Although it is an interesting stat, I disagree that it shows that he is basically an outside receiver considering Matt Rowell held the record and he's a contested bull. Teams are only averaging 9.6 contested marks a game this season - they're few and far between. Contested marks for leading possession winners, 2024 Nick Daicos: 0 / 694 Tom Green: 2 / 673 Adam Treloar: 3 / 662 Caleb Serong: 2 / 655 Zak Butters: 0 / 638 Noah Anderson: 0 / 634 Patrick Cripps: 7 / 633 Andrew Brayshaw: 1 / 627 Luke Davies-Uniacke: 1 / 624 Zach Merrett: 2 / 614 Nick Daicos is ranked fifth for average first possessions at stoppages and first for gathers from hitout. He may not win as many hard ball gets as some, but he definitely wins plenty of his own ball.

Melbourne won the possession count seven times this year (30% of games) which is the lowest proportion in a season for Melbourne since 2013 when we won the possession count once. The last three seasons we have won the possession count in 60%, 58% and 64% of games.

Melbourne v Collingwood (Round 24, 2024) https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_match_stats.html?ID=20242406 Key Team Stats Stats highlighted purple were won by Melbourne. Stat For Against Diff Disposal Efficiency 70.3 76.1 -5.8 Kicking Efficiency 65.2 68.5 -3.3 Metres Gained 5545 6434 -889 Inside 50s 43 55 -12 Shots At Goal 19 36 -17 Shots Per Inside 50 44.2 65.5 -21.3 Contested Possessions 111 118 -7 Ground Ball Gets 80 84 -4 Intercepts 71 79 -8 Intercept Marks 19 12 +7 Centre Clearances 10 13 -3 Stoppage Clearances 17 18 -1 Contested Marks 10 6 +4 Marks Inside 50 8 21 -13 Hitouts 27 25 +2 Hitouts To Advantage 5 8 -3 Tackles 42 41 +1 Tackles Inside 50 4 11 -7 Def One On One Loss % 0.0 0.0 +0.0 Contested Possessions For Against Diff Melbourne's Defensive 50 Hard Ball Get 5 3 +2 Loose Ball Get 15 9 +6 Contested Mark 1 2 -1 Ruck Hard Ball Get 1 0 +1 Gather From Hitout 1 1 0 Contested Knock On 0 2 -2 Free For 2 4 -2 Total 25 21 +4 Melbourne's Forward 50 Hard Ball Get 3 1 +2 Loose Ball Get 7 14 -7 Free For 1 2 -1 Total 11 17 -6 Post clearance Hard Ball Get 15 11 +4 Loose Ball Get 40 50 -10 Contested Mark 10 6 +4 Contested Knock On 2 5 -3 Free For 10 12 -2 Total 77 84 -7 Pre clearance Hard Ball Get 7 8 -1 Loose Ball Get 18 15 +3 Ruck Hard Ball Get 3 1 +2 Gather From Hitout 5 6 -1 Contested Knock On 0 2 -2 Free For 1 2 -1 Total 34 34 0 Official data on pre- and post-clearance contested possessions are not available. These have been estimated by Wheelo Ratings and should be indicative. Ground ball gets are inclusive of hard ball gets and loose ball gets. 'Free For' does not include free kicks to advantage or free kicks while in possession of the ball as these are not counted as contested possessions. Expected scores xScore Score Rushed xWin % xMargin Margin Swing Melbourne 61.0 57 1 0% +10.0 Collingwood 116.9 103 3 100% +56.0 +46 Team Shots Score Accuracy xScore +/- xSc. / Shot Shot Rating Overall Melbourne 19 8.8.56 42.1% 60.0 −4.0 3.16 −0.21 Collingwood 36 15.10.100 41.7% 113.9 −13.9 3.17 −0.39 General Play Melbourne 11 2.6.18 18.2% 29.8 −11.8 2.71 −1.08 Collingwood 14 4.5.29 28.6% 45.2 −16.2 3.23 −1.16 Set Position Melbourne 8 6.2.38 75.0% 30.1 +7.9 3.77 +0.98 Collingwood 22 11.5.71 50.0% 68.8 +2.2 3.13 +0.10 xWin %: win probability based on expected scores. Swing: difference between expected margin and actual margin. xScore: total expected score from all shots taken. +/-: total score above or below expected score. xSc. / Shot: average expected score per shot. This represents the average shot difficulty. Shot Rating: average score above or below expected score per shot at goal. Notes: Expected scores are calculated by Wheelo Ratings. Each shot at goal is assigned an expected score based on the distance from goal, shot angle, and type of shot (e.g. set shot, general play following contested possession, general play following uncontested possession, ground kick, etc) as a proxy for pressure. The model does not take into account factors like the player, whether the ball was kicked with their preferred or non-preferred foot, and pressure on the player when taking the shot. Rushed behinds are excluded from actual and expected scores. Pressure Team pressure Quarter For Agn Diff 1 157 192 -35 2 147 168 -21 3 158 187 -29 4 177 160 +17 Match 161 178 -17 Source: Herald Sun Most Pressure Points Note: pressure points are the weighed sum of pressure acts. Physical pressure acts are worth 3.75 points, closing acts are worth 2.25 points, chasing acts are 1.5 points and corralling are 1.2. ( https://www.championdata.com/glossary/afl/ ) Player Pressure Acts Pressure Points Season Average Alex Neal-Bullen 31 56 53.8 Kade Chandler 22 51 44.7 Jack Viney 24 50 56.7 Ed Langdon 21 39 32.3 Koltyn Tholstrup 19 38 37.5 Judd McVee 19 38 17.4 Trent Rivers 17 37 30.5 Kysaiah Pickett 16 34 42.8 Jake Bowey 14 31 19.0 Bailey Laurie 11 27 23.0 Christian Salem 11 26 26.3 Jack Billings 13 26 23.7 Bayley Fritsch 12 21 16.0 Blake Howes 10 18 16.2 Max Gawn 7 17 22.0 Taj Woewodin 10 17 14.6 Harrison Petty 6 15 29.6 Jake Melksham 7 15 11.6 Tom McDonald 5 13 19.0 Adam Tomlinson 6 9 17.9 Marty Hore 7 8 11.2 Jacob van Rooyen 3 5 16.8 Daniel Turner 1 1 12.0 Source: Herald Sun Time in Forward Half Quarter For Against 1 36% 64% 2 42% 58% 3 46% 54% 4 36% 64% Match 39% 61% Source: Match total sourced from the Herald Sun; quarter values are my own calculations. Score Sources Summary Category Score Against Diff Kick-in 1.1.7 1.0.6 +1 Centre Bounce 2.0.12 0.0.0 +12 Stoppage (Other) 2.2.14 4.4.28 -14 Turnover 3.6.24 10.9.69 -45 Score Source For Against Match Season Match Season * Kick-in 7 3.6 6 3.1 Centre Bounce 12 9.8 0 7.3 Stoppage (Other) 14 23.4 28 19.7 Turnover 24 40.8 69 48.7 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Collingwood. Chain start region Note: region is from the scoring team's perspective. Category Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Centre Bounce Centre 12 9.8 0 7.3 Kick-in D50 7 3.6 6 3.1 Stoppage (Other) D50 6 3.1 0 1.3 Stoppage (Other) Centre 0 2.1 6 2.0 Stoppage (Other) Wing 7 12.5 9 8.8 Stoppage (Other) F50 1 5.7 13 7.5 Turnover D50 1 8.8 8 8.9 Turnover Centre 0 7.4 19 7.4 Turnover Wing 22 17.8 22 25.4 Turnover F50 1 6.8 20 7.0 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * D50 14 15.5 14 13.3 Centre 12 19.3 25 16.8 Wing 29 30.3 31 34.2 F50 2 12.5 33 14.5 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Defensive 50 14 15.5 14 13.3 Defensive midfield 15 16.1 26 18.7 Centre bounce 12 9.8 0 7.3 Attacking midfield 14 23.7 30 25.0 Forward 50 2 12.5 33 14.5 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Collingwood. Points from defensive half For Against Match Season Match Season * 29 31.6 40 32.0 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Collingwood. Centre Bounce Attendances CBAs CBA % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 23 88% 85.0% 64.9% Jack Viney 20 77% 69.1% 72.1% Alex Neal-Bullen 18 69% 19.8% 2.1% Judd McVee 15 58% 6.3% 0.0% Trent Rivers 13 50% 29.9% 3.0% Bailey Laurie 6 23% 11.0% 0.0% Ed Langdon 4 15% 0.7% 0.0% Jacob van Rooyen 3 12% 17.8% 7.6% Kysaiah Pickett 2 8% 33.0% 11.2% Christian Salem 0 0% 12.3% 0.0% Harrison Petty 0 0% 7.5% 0.7% Koltyn Tholstrup 0 0% 5.7% Daniel Turner 0 0% 0.3% 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0% 0.0% 5.7% Clayton Oliver 70.7% 81.4% Christian Petracca 55.8% 61.1% Tom Sparrow 37.7% 44.9% Josh Schache 8.3% 0.0% Charlie Spargo 4.2% 0.0% Lachie Hunter 0.0% 0.2% Ruck Contests and Hitouts Ruck Contests Ruck Contests RC % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 61 87% 81.1% 57.5% Jacob van Rooyen 6 9% 17.6% 13.1% Harrison Petty 3 4% 7.9% 2.0% Daniel Turner 0 0% 3.1% 0.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0% 0.0% 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0% 0.0% 9.3% Josh Schache 13.3% 4.1% Ben Brown 0.2% 2.3% Christian Petracca 0.0% 0.4% Clayton Oliver 0.0% 0.1% Steven May 0.0% 0.0% Tom Sparrow 0.0% 0.0% Hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. To Adv. % (2024) To Adv. % (2023) Max Gawn 61 25 5 27.9% 30.1% Jacob van Rooyen 6 1 0 24.7% 31.1% Harrison Petty 3 1 0 24.4% 25.0% Daniel Turner 0 0 0 50.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 0 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0 0 20.0% Ben Brown 100.0% 0.0% Josh Schache 100.0% 0.0% Christian Petracca 100.0% Opposition hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. Darcy Cameron 49 16 4 Mason Cox 21 9 4

Unfortunately there is an issue with the data source which is outside of my control. I will update the data if/when the issue is resolved.

Melbourne v Gold Coast (Round 23, 2024) https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_match_stats.html?ID=20242303 Key Team Stats Stats highlighted purple were won by Melbourne. Stat For Against Diff Disposal Efficiency 77.7 71.3 +6.4 Kicking Efficiency 72.3 63.3 +9.0 Metres Gained 6274 5576 +698 Inside 50s 54 49 +5 Shots At Goal 29 18 +11 Shots Per Inside 50 53.7 36.7 +17.0 Contested Possessions 121 111 +10 Ground Ball Gets 82 74 +8 Intercepts 67 63 +4 Intercept Marks 16 17 -1 Centre Clearances 18 7 +11 Stoppage Clearances 27 29 -2 Contested Marks 11 5 +6 Marks Inside 50 16 8 +8 Hitouts 40 34 +6 Hitouts To Advantage 10 11 -1 Tackles 50 47 +3 Tackles Inside 50 9 9 +0 Def One On One Loss % 20.0 35.3 -15.3 Contested Possessions For Against Diff Melbourne's Defensive 50 Hard Ball Get 6 4 +2 Loose Ball Get 14 10 +4 Contested Mark 1 0 +1 Ruck Hard Ball Get 0 2 -2 Gather From Hitout 2 1 +1 Contested Knock On 0 1 -1 Free For 1 2 -1 Total 24 20 +4 Melbourne's Forward 50 Hard Ball Get 4 8 -4 Loose Ball Get 7 7 0 Contested Mark 3 2 +1 Ruck Hard Ball Get 2 0 +2 Gather From Hitout 1 1 0 Free For 1 2 -1 Total 18 20 -2 Post clearance Hard Ball Get 14 16 -2 Loose Ball Get 43 32 +11 Contested Mark 11 5 +6 Contested Knock On 1 5 -4 Free For 7 10 -3 Total 76 68 +8 Pre clearance Hard Ball Get 6 7 -1 Loose Ball Get 19 19 0 Ruck Hard Ball Get 5 2 +3 Gather From Hitout 9 11 -2 Contested Knock On 4 2 +2 Free For 2 2 0 Total 45 43 +2 Official data on pre- and post-clearance contested possessions are not available. These have been estimated by Wheelo Ratings and should be indicative. Ground ball gets are inclusive of hard ball gets and loose ball gets. 'Free For' does not include free kicks to advantage or free kicks while in possession of the ball as these are not counted as contested possessions. Expected scores xScore Score Rushed xWin % xMargin Margin Swing Melbourne 102.7 117 0 99% +40.9 +54 +13.1 Gold Coast 61.8 63 1 1% Team Shots Score Accuracy xScore +/- xSc. / Shot Shot Rating Overall Melbourne 29 18.9.117 62.1% 102.7 +14.3 3.54 +0.49 Gold Coast 18 9.8.62 50.0% 60.8 +1.2 3.38 +0.07 General Play Melbourne 12 4.6.30 33.3% 37.7 −7.7 3.15 −0.65 Gold Coast 8 5.3.33 62.5% 22.6 +10.4 2.82 +1.31 Set Position Melbourne 17 14.3.87 82.4% 65.0 +22.0 3.82 +1.30 Gold Coast 10 4.5.29 40.0% 38.3 −9.3 3.83 −0.93 xWin %: win probability based on expected scores. Swing: difference between expected margin and actual margin. xScore: total expected score from all shots taken. +/-: total score above or below expected score. xSc. / Shot: average expected score per shot. This represents the average shot difficulty. Shot Rating: average score above or below expected score per shot at goal. Notes: Expected scores are calculated by Wheelo Ratings. Each shot at goal is assigned an expected score based on the distance from goal, shot angle, and type of shot (e.g. set shot, general play following contested possession, general play following uncontested possession, ground kick, etc) as a proxy for pressure. The model does not take into account factors like the player, whether the ball was kicked with their preferred or non-preferred foot, and pressure on the player when taking the shot. Rushed behinds are excluded from actual and expected scores. Pressure Team pressure Quarter For Agn Diff 1 184 171 +13 2 174 182 -8 3 197 174 +23 4 167 175 -8 Match 181 175 +6 Source: Herald Sun Most Pressure Points Note: pressure points are the weighed sum of pressure acts. Physical pressure acts are worth 3.75 points, closing acts are worth 2.25 points, chasing acts are 1.5 points and corralling are 1.2. ( https://www.championdata.com/glossary/afl/ ) Player Pressure Acts Pressure Points Season Average Jack Viney 31 83 57.0 Koltyn Tholstrup 24 53 37.4 Alex Neal-Bullen 20 51 53.7 Trent Rivers 22 41 30.2 Kade Chandler 17 35 44.5 Ed Langdon 16 35 32.0 Kysaiah Pickett 19 34 43.2 Judd McVee 11 28 16.5 Jake Lever 13 26 15.4 Christian Salem 13 24 26.3 Bayley Fritsch 13 24 15.8 Harrison Petty 13 23 30.3 Jake Bowey 10 22 18.1 Max Gawn 6 18 22.2 Marty Hore 8 18 11.8 Jack Billings 7 14 23.5 Tom McDonald 4 14 19.3 Jacob van Rooyen 6 14 17.4 Blake Howes 5 13 16.1 Jake Melksham 5 12 11.1 Adam Tomlinson 3 9 19.1 Daniel Turner 3 6 12.8 Tom Sparrow 1 1 41.7 Source: Herald Sun Time in Forward Half Quarter For Against 1 43% 57% 2 37% 63% 3 42% 58% 4 58% 42% Match 45% 55% Source: Match total sourced from the Herald Sun; quarter values are my own calculations. Score Sources Summary Category Score Against Diff Kick-in 1.0.6 0.1.1 +5 Centre Bounce 5.1.31 2.2.14 +17 Stoppage (Other) 7.2.44 1.1.7 +37 Turnover 5.6.36 6.5.41 -5 Score Source For Against Match Season Match Season * Kick-in 6 3.5 1 3.0 Centre Bounce 31 9.7 14 7.7 Stoppage (Other) 44 23.8 7 19.3 Turnover 36 41.5 41 47.7 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Gold Coast. Chain start region Note: region is from the scoring team's perspective. Category Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Centre Bounce Centre 31 9.7 14 7.7 Kick-in D50 6 3.5 1 3.0 Stoppage (Other) D50 6 3.0 1 1.3 Stoppage (Other) Centre 1 2.2 0 1.9 Stoppage (Other) Wing 30 12.7 0 8.8 Stoppage (Other) F50 7 6.0 6 7.3 Turnover D50 15 9.1 14 9.0 Turnover Centre 6 7.7 0 6.9 Turnover Wing 8 17.6 20 25.5 Turnover F50 7 7.0 7 6.4 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * D50 27 15.5 16 13.2 Centre 38 19.6 14 16.4 Wing 38 30.4 20 34.4 F50 14 13.0 13 13.6 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Defensive 50 27 15.5 16 13.2 Defensive midfield 19 16.1 0 18.4 Centre bounce 31 9.7 14 7.7 Attacking midfield 26 24.1 20 24.7 Forward 50 14 13.0 13 13.6 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Gold Coast. Points from defensive half For Against Match Season Match Season * 46 31.7 16 31.6 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Gold Coast. Centre Bounce Attendances CBAs CBA % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 25 83% 84.8% 64.9% Jack Viney 23 77% 68.8% 72.1% Trent Rivers 20 67% 29.0% 3.0% Judd McVee 18 60% 4.0% 0.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 16 53% 17.5% 2.1% Tom Sparrow 6 20% 37.7% 44.9% Jacob van Rooyen 5 17% 18.1% 7.6% Kysaiah Pickett 4 13% 34.3% 11.2% Koltyn Tholstrup 3 10% 6.4% Christian Salem 0 0% 13.0% 0.0% Harrison Petty 0 0% 7.9% 0.7% Daniel Turner 0 0% 0.3% 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0% 0.0% 5.7% Clayton Oliver 70.7% 81.4% Christian Petracca 55.8% 61.1% Bailey Laurie 8.3% 0.0% Josh Schache 8.3% 0.0% Charlie Spargo 4.2% 0.0% Lachie Hunter 0.0% 0.2% Ruck Contests and Hitouts Ruck Contests Ruck Contests RC % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 75 82% 80.8% 57.5% Jacob van Rooyen 16 18% 18.0% 13.1% Harrison Petty 0 0% 8.1% 2.0% Daniel Turner 0 0% 3.2% 0.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0% 0.0% 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0% 0.0% 9.3% Tom Sparrow 0 0% 0.0% 0.0% Josh Schache 13.3% 4.1% Ben Brown 0.2% 2.3% Christian Petracca 0.0% 0.4% Clayton Oliver 0.0% 0.1% Steven May 0.0% 0.0% Hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. To Adv. % (2024) To Adv. % (2023) Max Gawn 75 33 8 28.2% 30.1% Jacob van Rooyen 16 7 2 25.0% 31.1% Daniel Turner 0 0 0 50.0% Harrison Petty 0 0 0 25.0% 25.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 0 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0 0 20.0% Ben Brown 100.0% 0.0% Josh Schache 100.0% 0.0% Christian Petracca 100.0% Opposition hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. Jarrod Witts 73 27 8 Mac Andrew 16 6 2 Jed Walter 3 1 1

Yes, that's correct. They had 26 shots in total - up to five of those resulted in a rushed behind and therefore at least eight didn't register a score at all. One was a shot by JHF which was smothered off the boot, so they can also count as a shot if it was deemed to be a genuine shot at goal. I say "up to five" rushed as a rushed behind may not follow a shot, but I haven't checked to see whether this was the case for any of Port's rushed behinds. Yes, it does seem like a reasonably high proportion of their shots not registering a score, but I haven't looked into how it compares to other teams across the season.

The expected score for Port may be a little higher than others as I include the rushed behinds and Port had five. This may overinflate an expected score as there may also have been a shot at goal in that chain which was already included in the expected score. AFLxScore on Twitter had the expected scores as 62.2 (+1 rushed) to 76.7 (+0 rushed) and Champion Data had the expected scores as 67 to 80, so not significantly different to 61.6 (+2 rushed) to 78.8 (+5 rushed). The difference between my model and AFLxScore's is basically the rushed behinds which they handle differently to me. I will aim review this in the off season. Does this explain it, or does it still not seem right?

Melbourne v Port Adelaide (Round 22, 2024) https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_match_stats.html?ID=20242206 Key Team Stats Stats highlighted purple were won by Melbourne. Stat For Against Diff Disposal Efficiency 65.4 73.8 -8.4 Kicking Efficiency 61.5 69.5 -8.0 Metres Gained 6033 6176 -143 Inside 50s 48 56 -8 Shots At Goal 19 26 -7 Shots Per Inside 50 39.6 46.4 -6.8 Contested Possessions 160 130 +30 Ground Ball Gets 102 92 +10 Intercepts 80 78 +2 Intercept Marks 14 17 -3 Centre Clearances 8 9 -1 Stoppage Clearances 23 26 -3 Contested Marks 13 6 +7 Marks Inside 50 7 13 -6 Hitouts 32 29 +3 Hitouts To Advantage 15 9 +6 Tackles 60 62 -2 Tackles Inside 50 18 6 +12 Def One On One Loss % 9.1 33.3 -24.2 Contested Possessions For Against Diff Melbourne's Defensive 50 Hard Ball Get 5 2 +3 Loose Ball Get 15 12 +3 Contested Mark 2 3 -1 Ruck Hard Ball Get 1 0 +1 Gather From Hitout 4 0 +4 Contested Knock On 1 1 0 Free For 5 0 +5 Total 33 18 +15 Melbourne's Forward 50 Hard Ball Get 7 4 +3 Loose Ball Get 16 17 -1 Contested Mark 1 0 +1 Ruck Hard Ball Get 1 1 0 Gather From Hitout 0 2 -2 Contested Knock On 0 1 -1 Free For 1 2 -1 Total 26 27 -1 Post clearance Hard Ball Get 25 15 +10 Loose Ball Get 58 56 +2 Contested Mark 13 6 +7 Contested Knock On 4 3 +1 Free For 18 10 +8 Total 118 90 +28 Pre clearance Hard Ball Get 6 3 +3 Loose Ball Get 13 18 -5 Ruck Hard Ball Get 5 4 +1 Gather From Hitout 14 9 +5 Contested Knock On 1 3 -2 Free For 3 3 0 Total 42 40 +2 Official data on pre- and post-clearance contested possessions are not available. These have been estimated by Wheelo Ratings and should be indicative. Ground ball gets are inclusive of hard ball gets and loose ball gets. 'Free For' does not include free kicks to advantage or free kicks while in possession of the ball as these are not counted as contested possessions. Expected scores xScore Score Rushed xWin % xMargin Margin Swing Melbourne 63.6 51 2 11% +18.2 Port Adelaide 83.8 53 5 89% +20.2 +2 Team Shots Score Accuracy xScore +/- xSc. / Shot Shot Rating Overall Melbourne 19 7.7.49 36.8% 61.6 −12.6 3.24 −0.66 Port Adelaide 26 7.6.48 26.9% 78.8 −30.8 3.03 −1.18 General Play Melbourne 11 3.6.24 27.3% 32.9 −8.9 2.99 −0.81 Port Adelaide 16 2.5.17 12.5% 44.4 −27.4 2.77 −1.71 Set Position Melbourne 8 4.1.25 50.0% 28.7 −3.7 3.59 −0.47 Port Adelaide 10 5.1.31 50.0% 34.4 −3.4 3.44 −0.34 xWin %: win probability based on expected scores. Swing: difference between expected margin and actual margin. xScore: total expected score from all shots taken. +/-: total score above or below expected score. xSc. / Shot: average expected score per shot. This represents the average shot difficulty. Shot Rating: average score above or below expected score per shot at goal. Notes: Expected scores are calculated by Wheelo Ratings. Each shot at goal is assigned an expected score based on the distance from goal, shot angle, and type of shot (e.g. set shot, general play following contested possession, general play following uncontested possession, ground kick, etc) as a proxy for pressure. The model does not take into account factors like the player, whether the ball was kicked with their preferred or non-preferred foot, and pressure on the player when taking the shot. Rushed behinds are excluded from actual and expected scores. Pressure Team pressure Quarter For Agn Diff 1 182 194 -12 2 154 162 -8 3 199 185 +14 4 182 204 -22 Match 179 186 -7 Source: Herald Sun Most Pressure Points Note: pressure points are the weighed sum of pressure acts. Physical pressure acts are worth 3.75 points, closing acts are worth 2.25 points, chasing acts are 1.5 points and corralling are 1.2. ( https://www.championdata.com/glossary/afl/ ) Player Pressure Acts Pressure Points Season Average Kysaiah Pickett 25 57 43.7 Alex Neal-Bullen 24 54 53.8 Clayton Oliver 22 52 46.3 Harrison Petty 18 50 30.7 Jack Viney 19 47 55.8 Kade Chandler 19 43 44.9 Ed Langdon 15 40 31.8 Tom Sparrow 16 34 43.7 Trent Rivers 15 32 29.7 Koltyn Tholstrup 17 31 35.5 Jack Billings 13 30 24.2 Judd McVee 12 28 15.9 Christian Salem 10 23 26.5 Daniel Turner 11 19 13.3 Tom McDonald 9 18 19.6 Adam Tomlinson 7 16 20.8 Jake Lever 8 16 14.8 Max Gawn 6 15 22.4 Blake Howes 6 15 16.4 Bayley Fritsch 5 11 15.4 Jacob van Rooyen 5 9 17.5 Marty Hore 4 8 10.2 Jake Melksham 0 0 11.0 Source: Herald Sun Time in Forward Half Quarter For Against 1 61% 39% 2 49% 51% 3 36% 64% 4 49% 51% Match 49% 51% Source: Match total sourced from the Herald Sun; quarter values are my own calculations. Score Sources Summary Category Score Against Diff Kick-in 1.0.6 0.0.0 +6 Centre Bounce 0.1.1 1.3.9 -8 Stoppage (Other) 2.4.16 2.2.14 +2 Turnover 4.4.28 4.6.30 -2 Score Source For Against Match Season Match Season * Kick-in 6 3.3 0 3.0 Centre Bounce 1 8.7 9 7.4 Stoppage (Other) 16 22.9 14 19.9 Turnover 28 41.8 30 48.0 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Port Adelaide. Chain start region Note: region is from the scoring team's perspective. Category Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Centre Bounce Centre 1 8.7 9 7.4 Kick-in D50 6 3.3 0 3.0 Stoppage (Other) D50 12 2.8 1 1.3 Stoppage (Other) Centre 0 2.2 0 2.0 Stoppage (Other) Wing 3 11.9 6 9.2 Stoppage (Other) F50 1 5.9 7 7.3 Turnover D50 12 8.9 6 8.7 Turnover Centre 6 7.8 7 7.2 Turnover Wing 6 18.1 16 25.8 Turnover F50 4 7.0 1 6.3 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * D50 30 15.0 7 13.1 Centre 7 18.7 16 16.5 Wing 9 30.0 22 35.0 F50 5 13.0 8 13.7 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Defensive 50 30 15.0 7 13.1 Defensive midfield 7 16.0 21 19.2 Centre bounce 1 8.7 9 7.4 Attacking midfield 8 24.0 8 25.0 Forward 50 5 13.0 8 13.7 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Port Adelaide. Points from defensive half For Against Match Season Match Season * 37 31.0 28 32.3 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Port Adelaide. Centre Bounce Attendances CBAs CBA % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 17 94% 84.9% 64.9% Jack Viney 13 72% 68.3% 72.1% Tom Sparrow 11 61% 38.7% 44.9% Trent Rivers 11 61% 26.9% 3.0% Clayton Oliver 9 50% 70.7% 81.4% Kysaiah Pickett 5 28% 35.5% 11.2% Judd McVee 4 22% 0.9% 0.0% Jacob van Rooyen 1 6% 18.2% 7.6% Koltyn Tholstrup 1 6% 5.8% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0% 15.6% 2.1% Christian Salem 0 0% 14.0% 0.0% Harrison Petty 0 0% 8.4% 0.7% Daniel Turner 0 0% 0.3% 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0% 0.0% 5.7% Christian Petracca 55.8% 61.1% Bailey Laurie 8.3% 0.0% Josh Schache 8.3% 0.0% Charlie Spargo 4.2% 0.0% Lachie Hunter 0.0% 0.2% Ruck Contests and Hitouts Ruck Contests Ruck Contests RC % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 53 69% 80.7% 57.5% Jacob van Rooyen 14 18% 18.0% 13.1% Harrison Petty 8 10% 8.5% 2.0% Daniel Turner 2 3% 3.5% 0.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0% 0.0% 0.0% Clayton Oliver 0 0% 0.0% 0.1% Tom McDonald 0 0% 0.0% 9.3% Tom Sparrow 0 0% 0.0% 0.0% Josh Schache 13.3% 4.1% Ben Brown 0.2% 2.3% Christian Petracca 0.0% 0.4% Steven May 0.0% 0.0% Hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. To Adv. % (2024) To Adv. % (2023) Max Gawn 53 30 15 28.4% 30.1% Harrison Petty 8 2 0 25.0% 25.0% Daniel Turner 2 0 0 50.0% Jacob van Rooyen 14 0 0 24.7% 31.1% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 0 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0 0 20.0% Ben Brown 100.0% 0.0% Josh Schache 100.0% 0.0% Christian Petracca 100.0% Opposition hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. Jordon Sweet 61 27 8 Charlie Dixon 16 2 1

I don't know - it is clearly our lowest since the start of 2021 based on my estimates and I don't have data pre-2021! Here are Melbourne's lowest 20 matches for time in forward half since the start of 2021. Season Round Team Opposition Forward Half 2024 21 Melbourne Western Bulldogs 36.7% 2022 17 Melbourne Geelong 40.0% 2023 10 Melbourne Port Adelaide 40.1% 2024 10 Melbourne West Coast 42.4% 2024 3 Melbourne Port Adelaide 42.8% 2023 17 Melbourne St Kilda 44.3% 2024 12 Melbourne Fremantle 44.7% 2024 0 Melbourne Sydney 45.5% 2024 19 Melbourne Fremantle 45.5% 2024 1 Melbourne Western Bulldogs 46.1% 2023 2 Melbourne Brisbane 46.4% 2022 19 Melbourne Western Bulldogs 46.7% 2022 2 Melbourne Gold Coast 46.8% 2024 7 Melbourne Richmond 47.0% 2023 5 Melbourne Essendon 47.1% 2021 6 Melbourne Richmond 47.3% 2023 6 Melbourne Richmond 47.3% 2021 8 Melbourne Sydney 47.5% 2024 15 Melbourne North Melbourne 47.7% 2024 5 Melbourne Brisbane 47.7% It is actually the 22nd lowest time in forward half for any team since the start of 2021. Season Round Team Opposition Forward Half 2022 16 North Melbourne Geelong 30.1% 2021 20 Gold Coast Melbourne 31.4% 2022 10 North Melbourne Melbourne 32.0% 2024 4 North Melbourne Brisbane 32.3% 2023 17 West Coast Brisbane 34.2% 2023 18 Essendon Geelong 34.3% 2023 10 West Coast Hawthorn 34.5% 2021 17 Adelaide Essendon 34.7% 2024 19 West Coast St Kilda 35.1% 2022 18 North Melbourne Richmond 35.5% 2022 3 North Melbourne Brisbane 35.7% 2022 23 Hawthorn Western Bulldogs 35.9% 2024 7 North Melbourne Adelaide 36.1% 2022 17 West Coast Carlton 36.2% 2021 23 North Melbourne Adelaide 36.2% 2023 9 Essendon Brisbane 36.3% 2023 24 West Coast Adelaide 36.5% 2023 15 West Coast Sydney 36.5% 2022 27 Sydney Geelong 36.6% 2021 5 St Kilda Richmond 36.6% 2022 11 West Coast Western Bulldogs 36.6% 2024 21 Melbourne Western Bulldogs 36.7% 2023 8 Essendon Port Adelaide 36.7% 2023 14 North Melbourne Western Bulldogs 36.7%

Here is the breakdown of clearances by quarter: Team 1 2 3 4 Stoppage Clearances Melbourne 4 7 9 6 Western Bulldogs 8 9 4 7 Diff -4 -2 +5 -1 Centre Clearances Melbourne 0 3 3 5 Western Bulldogs 5 4 4 0 Diff -5 -1 -1 +5

Melbourne v Western Bulldogs (Round 21, 2024) https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_match_stats.html?ID=20242109 Key Team Stats Stats highlighted purple were won by Melbourne. Stat For Against Diff Disposal Efficiency 67.2 74.0 -6.8 Kicking Efficiency 64.0 64.3 -0.3 Metres Gained 5647 6474 -827 Inside 50s 39 65 -26 Shots At Goal 20 41 -21 Shots Per Inside 50 51.3 63.1 -11.8 Contested Possessions 135 135 +0 Ground Ball Gets 89 87 +2 Intercepts 55 70 -15 Intercept Marks 12 16 -4 Centre Clearances 11 13 -2 Stoppage Clearances 26 28 -2 Contested Marks 11 12 -1 Marks Inside 50 12 19 -7 Hitouts 47 40 +7 Hitouts To Advantage 16 11 +5 Tackles 63 57 +6 Tackles Inside 50 5 14 -9 Def One On One Loss % 100.0 40.0 +60.0 Contested Possessions For Against Diff Melbourne's Defensive 50 Hard Ball Get 8 5 +3 Loose Ball Get 22 13 +9 Contested Mark 1 4 -3 Ruck Hard Ball Get 1 0 +1 Gather From Hitout 0 2 -2 Free For 2 6 -4 Total 34 30 +4 Melbourne's Forward 50 Hard Ball Get 2 5 -3 Loose Ball Get 6 8 -2 Contested Mark 1 2 -1 Gather From Hitout 2 0 +2 Contested Knock On 1 0 +1 Free For 0 2 -2 Total 12 17 -5 Post clearance Hard Ball Get 12 15 -3 Loose Ball Get 43 39 +4 Contested Mark 11 12 -1 Contested Knock On 3 5 -2 Free For 6 16 -10 Total 75 87 -12 Pre clearance Hard Ball Get 11 8 +3 Loose Ball Get 23 25 -2 Ruck Hard Ball Get 5 1 +4 Gather From Hitout 12 11 +1 Free For 9 3 +6 Total 60 48 +12 Official data on pre- and post-clearance contested possessions are not available. These have been estimated by Wheelo Ratings and should be indicative. Ground ball gets are inclusive of hard ball gets and loose ball gets. 'Free For' does not include free kicks to advantage or free kicks while in possession of the ball as these are not counted as contested possessions. Expected scores xScore Score Rushed xWin % xMargin Margin Swing Melbourne 60.3 59 2 0% +22.5 Western Bulldogs 133.7 110 2 100% +73.5 +51 Team Shots Score Accuracy xScore +/- xSc. / Shot Shot Rating Overall Melbourne 20 9.3.57 45.0% 58.3 −1.3 2.91 −0.06 Western Bulldogs 41 15.18.108 36.6% 131.7 −23.7 3.21 −0.58 General Play Melbourne 7 2.1.13 28.6% 18.3 −5.3 2.62 −0.76 Western Bulldogs 17 3.9.27 17.6% 43.9 −16.9 2.58 −0.99 Set Position Melbourne 13 7.2.44 53.8% 39.9 +4.1 3.07 +0.31 Western Bulldogs 24 12.9.81 50.0% 87.8 −6.8 3.66 −0.28 xWin %: win probability based on expected scores. Swing: difference between expected margin and actual margin. xScore: total expected score from all shots taken. +/-: total score above or below expected score. xSc. / Shot: average expected score per shot. This represents the average shot difficulty. Shot Rating: average score above or below expected score per shot at goal. Notes: Expected scores are calculated by Wheelo Ratings. Each shot at goal is assigned an expected score based on the distance from goal, shot angle, and type of shot (e.g. set shot, general play following contested possession, general play following uncontested possession, ground kick, etc) as a proxy for pressure. The model does not take into account factors like the player, whether the ball was kicked with their preferred or non-preferred foot, and pressure on the player when taking the shot. Rushed behinds are excluded from actual and expected scores. Pressure Team pressure Quarter For Agn Diff 1 163 179 -16 2 200 177 +23 3 175 162 +13 4 151 184 -33 Match 172 176 -4 Source: Herald Sun Most Pressure Points Note: pressure points are the weighed sum of pressure acts. Physical pressure acts are worth 3.75 points, closing acts are worth 2.25 points, chasing acts are 1.5 points and corralling are 1.2. ( https://www.championdata.com/glossary/afl/ ) Player Pressure Acts Pressure Points Season Average Clayton Oliver 27 50 46.0 Tom Sparrow 23 50 44.2 Jack Viney 26 48 56.2 Alex Neal-Bullen 22 48 53.8 Koltyn Tholstrup 21 46 36.1 Trent Rivers 20 46 29.6 Ed Langdon 19 38 31.4 Kysaiah Pickett 17 35 42.9 Kade Chandler 14 30 45.0 Jacob van Rooyen 11 30 18.0 Andy Moniz-Wakefield 13 27 32.2 Judd McVee 12 27 15.3 Taj Woewodin 13 26 14.5 Jake Bowey 13 24 17.8 Max Gawn 9 21 22.8 Harrison Petty 10 20 29.6 Jake Lever 10 17 14.8 Jake Melksham 7 16 13.2 Tom McDonald 5 15 19.6 Blake Howes 5 7 16.5 Daniel Turner 3 6 12.8 Steven May 2 6 9.9 Bayley Fritsch 3 4 15.6 Source: Herald Sun Time in Forward Half Quarter For Against 1 32% 68% 2 33% 67% 3 41% 59% 4 40% 60% Match 36% 64% Source: Match total sourced from the Herald Sun; quarter values are my own calculations. Score Sources Summary Category Score Against Diff Kick-in 1.1.7 3.0.18 -11 Centre Bounce 0.1.1 0.2.2 -1 Stoppage (Other) 6.2.38 3.8.26 +12 Turnover 2.1.13 9.10.64 -51 Score Source For Against Match Season Match Season * Kick-in 7 3.2 18 3.2 Centre Bounce 1 9.1 2 7.3 Stoppage (Other) 38 23.2 26 20.1 Turnover 13 42.5 64 49.0 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Western Bulldogs. Chain start region Note: region is from the scoring team's perspective. Category Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Centre Bounce Centre 1 9.1 2 7.3 Kick-in D50 7 3.2 18 3.2 Stoppage (Other) D50 6 2.4 0 1.4 Stoppage (Other) Centre 6 2.3 1 2.0 Stoppage (Other) Wing 19 12.3 9 9.4 Stoppage (Other) F50 7 6.2 16 7.3 Turnover D50 6 8.7 15 8.8 Turnover Centre 0 7.9 0 7.2 Turnover Wing 1 18.7 35 26.3 Turnover F50 6 7.2 14 6.6 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * D50 19 14.2 33 13.4 Centre 7 19.3 3 16.6 Wing 20 31.0 44 35.7 F50 13 13.4 30 13.9 Region For Against Match Season Match Season * Defensive 50 19 14.2 33 13.4 Defensive midfield 6 16.4 15 19.1 Centre bounce 1 9.1 2 7.3 Attacking midfield 20 24.8 30 25.8 Forward 50 13 13.4 30 13.9 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Western Bulldogs. Points from defensive half For Against Match Season Match Season * 25 30.7 48 32.5 * Against season average represents average points conceded by Melbourne across the season, not average points scored by Western Bulldogs. Centre Bounce Attendances CBAs CBA % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 24 86% 84.5% 64.9% Jack Viney 18 64% 68.2% 72.1% Tom Sparrow 18 64% 37.9% 44.9% Clayton Oliver 17 61% 71.4% 81.4% Trent Rivers 16 57% 25.8% 3.0% Koltyn Tholstrup 9 32% 5.9% Kysaiah Pickett 5 18% 35.8% 11.2% Jacob van Rooyen 4 14% 18.7% 7.6% Judd McVee 1 4% 0.2% 0.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0% 16.1% 2.1% Harrison Petty 0 0% 8.7% 0.7% Daniel Turner 0 0% 0.3% 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0% 0.0% 5.7% Christian Petracca 55.8% 61.1% Christian Salem 14.7% 0.0% Bailey Laurie 8.3% 0.0% Josh Schache 8.3% 0.0% Charlie Spargo 4.2% 0.0% Lachie Hunter 0.0% 0.2% Ruck Contests and Hitouts Ruck Contests Ruck Contests RC % 2024 % 2023 % Max Gawn 86 82% 81.3% 57.5% Jacob van Rooyen 19 18% 18.0% 13.1% Harrison Petty 0 0% 8.4% 2.0% Daniel Turner 0 0% 3.6% 0.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0% 0.0% 0.0% Clayton Oliver 0 0% 0.0% 0.1% Steven May 0 0% 0.0% 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0% 0.0% 9.3% Tom Sparrow 0 0% 0.0% 0.0% Josh Schache 13.3% 4.1% Ben Brown 0.2% 2.3% Christian Petracca 0.0% 0.4% Hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. To Adv. % (2024) To Adv. % (2023) Max Gawn 86 44 15 27.4% 30.1% Jacob van Rooyen 19 3 1 24.7% 31.1% Daniel Turner 0 0 0 50.0% Harrison Petty 0 0 0 26.3% 25.0% Alex Neal-Bullen 0 0 0 0.0% Tom McDonald 0 0 0 20.0% Ben Brown 100.0% 0.0% Josh Schache 100.0% 0.0% Christian Petracca 100.0% Opposition hitouts Ruck Contests Hitouts To Adv. Tim English 73 28 8 Sam Darcy 32 12 3

Merrett is rated significantly higher than ANB, but Merrett is classified as a midfielder and ANB a mid-forward. Merrett is the 15th highest rated player in the competition but most players above him are too. It's based on the Player Ratings which you can access here: https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_stats.html?year=2024 The player classifications may differ slightly and wings aren't differentiated from other midfielders on my site.

This is what my simulations show Melbourne's chances of playing finals are for a given number of wins (which does account for Melbourne's percentage): 14.0 wins: 97% 13.5 wins: 74% 13.0 wins: 29% 12.5 wins: 7% 12.0 wins: 0.4%

Here is the ladder if the average result was used where two teams played each other twice, ordered by Match Ratio (% of possible points) given different numbers of opposition teams played. M W L D For Agn Pts MR % 1 Sydney 16 12.0 4.0 0.0 1630.5 1157.5 48.0 75.0 140.9 2 Greater Western Sydney 16 10.5 5.5 0.0 1424.0 1248.0 42.0 65.6 114.1 3 Fremantle 14 8.5 4.5 1.0 1175.0 1002.5 36.0 64.3 117.2 4 Brisbane 16 9.5 6.0 0.5 1513.5 1266.5 39.0 60.9 119.5 5 Carlton 14 8.5 5.5 0.0 1310.5 1207.5 34.0 60.7 108.5 6 Geelong 15 9.0 6.0 0.0 1345.5 1255.0 36.0 60.0 107.2 7 Western Bulldogs 16 9.5 6.5 0.0 1462.5 1228.0 38.0 59.4 119.1 8 Melbourne 16 9.5 6.5 0.0 1282.0 1189.0 38.0 59.4 107.8 9 Port Adelaide 16 9.5 6.5 0.0 1377.0 1304.5 38.0 59.4 105.6 10 Hawthorn 16 9.5 6.5 0.0 1312.5 1278.0 38.0 59.4 102.7 11 Collingwood 17 8.5 7.0 1.5 1484.5 1447.0 37.0 54.4 102.6 12 Gold Coast 16 8.5 7.5 0.0 1368.0 1318.5 34.0 53.1 103.8 13 Essendon 15 7.5 7.0 0.5 1243.5 1316.5 31.0 51.7 94.5 14 Adelaide 16 6.5 9.0 0.5 1310.0 1255.5 27.0 42.2 104.3 15 St Kilda 16 6.5 9.5 0.0 1176.0 1230.5 26.0 40.6 95.6 16 West Coast 15 2.0 13.0 0.0 978.5 1511.0 8.0 13.3 64.8 17 Richmond 16 2.0 14.0 0.0 1032.5 1618.5 8.0 12.5 63.8 18 North Melbourne 16 1.5 14.5 0.0 1125.0 1717.0 6.0 9.4 65.5